Sophie..“Done.” The final click echoed in the office. “And sent.” Phoebe flashed me a smile. My eyes widened. “Sent?” I pulled the laptop closer, and my eyes fell on a large green checkmark icon displayed against the white background of the screen. “Yep.” She popped the p, and she faced her laptop.“But I didn’t make any changes. You know, to make it look like my work.” I pressed my tongue to the roof of my mouth as a salty tang filled my mouth. Turning to me, Phoebe shrugged it off. “You were here as I edited it, and you saw me editing it.” She raised both brows.I pinched my nose. “Yes, I did. But I wanted. You know..” My tongue tied as I tried to explain it. I should have made the touches as she was editing it. “Thank you.” “You are welcome.” Phoebe returned to her work. “Which floors are you designing?” I questioned. “From the ground floor to the twenty-fifth floor. You?”“From the sixtieth floor to the seventieth floor.” Phoebe glanced at me. "Oh, you are the one design
Sophie..“Who copied whose design?” My breath hitched as the air around me turned cold like it was a winter’s afternoon. I could hear the breath coming in and out of my nostrils. With her eyes, Phoebe motioned for me not to say anything. I swallowed my words and threw my gaze on the floor as I fidgeted with my fingers. Alex leaned back into his chair, and he tapped his fingers on the executive desk, sounding like a ticking bomb. “This would be the last time I’d ask the question.” His voice deepened and turned glacial. “Who copied whose design?”Phoebe’s shoulders tightened as she pointed at me. My eyes widened as I whipped my head in her direction. She didn’t say she used her design for inspiration. Alex snorted with disdain. “And I am supposed to believe that?” His gaze softened as he turned to me. “Sophie, you shouldn’t be allowing people to steal your designs,” he said with a rough tone. I lifted my brows as my mouth gaped slightly in surprise. He just picked my side, even h
Alex..Our footsteps echoed off the walls on the thirtieth floor. The floor was dedicated to restaurants and shopping malls. The air, musty and stale, and dust had inhabited every surface it could find. I wondered what I was paying the cleaners for. The plumber and I trod towards the commercial kitchen in one of the restaurant spaces as there was a report about some pipes leaking. I leaned on one of the walls that were predominantly stainless steel. Crossing my feet, I pointed at the other wall across me. “The pipers are behind that panel.” The serviceman pulled out his tools from his work bag and strode to the wall. After observing, he slipped into work. With a screwdriver, he began losing the screws.My phone beeped, and I reached for it from inside my suit pocket. A reminder popped up: meeting with Mr. Yang. I pinched at my nasal bridge. I had forgotten about that. For a man who had an impeccable memory, forgetting important things was something I couldn’t get used to. I hea
Sophie ..The cluster of numerous sphere-shaped pendant lights hung from the ceiling, casting its white hue on the dark panel walls of the dining. The fear of losing Liam still lingered in my veins. My eyes were glued on him, sitting at his smaller table and chair, and this time his legs were on the floor. He attempted to eat his dinner, and my hands just couldn’t stop smothering his hair. They clung onto him as though he could vanish into thin air again.“Mummy will never let you out of her sight,” I muttered, leaning in to peck his head. The cocoa scent from his hair shampoo wafted into my nose. Rising off the floor, I moved to a seat on the dining table nearest to him. My fingers were on the laptop before me, but my eyes just refused to be anywhere but on Liam. Liam dug his spoon into the plate of stir-fried rice and took a spoonful in his mouth. A few grains fell out of his spoon and strewn across his small white table. I must say he has gotten better at feeding himself. I
Alex..“How did the meeting today go?” My mother’s voice came from the other end of the call.My wet hair clung to my face and the nape of my neck as I came out not too long out of the shower. “Don’t you trust your son?” I plopped on the light beige sectional sofa in the left corner of the bedroom. “I closed the deal.” I swirled the wine glass before I sipped the red wine.A smack sound slipped into my ears, and I could tell she had smacked her forehead, and now I have to wait for her nagging. “Are you still drinking?” Frustration crawled up her tone. “The doctor said you should cut down on your alcohol. But anytime I call you, you somehow have a drink in your hand.” “That’s not entirely true.” With my other hand, I adjusted the rope on my black showerrobe. “I don’t drink at work,” I added.“That’s because it’s not completely furnished yet. I’m even surprised you haven’t got a fridge yet.”I smiled. “Red wine is good for your health. So worry no more. I am safe.”My mother let out
Sophie ..The sun had risen, and so had I. My footsteps echoed off the walls of the hallway as I made my way to Liam’s room. Entering the room, I trod straight to Liam, who was lying on his bed covered in blue and cream bedspread.Liam’s eyes fluttered before opening completely. "Mummy, good morning.” His voice was sharper than his pale face. He brought out his hands from beneath the multicoloured blanket. “How is my love doing?” I placed the back of my palm on his forehead and then his neck. His body temperature had dropped. “I thought I was your love.” Luca’s voice startled me, and I turned back. My eyes fell on Luca leaning against the door frame in a black suit, one hand dipped in his pocket, the other holding up a cup of tea. The jasmine scent from the tea outlined the air in the room as the steam curled upward.“Tea?” I questioned, arching a brow. This was new. He was a coffee person. “Few days in Japan, and you are now a tea person,” I teased with a hint of a smile, an att
Sophie ..Three days had gone. Liam was back in school, I was back at work, and Terry... Well, Terry had been blowing up my phone with apologies, acting overly concerned, like one wrong move and I’d snap his neck.The aroma of brewed coffee filled the office as soon as Terry entered, his footsteps intertwining with the video’s sound coming from Phoebe’s laptop. “Sophie, your favourite coffee is mocha, right?” Terry questioned, placing the white coffee cup on the table with a soft thud. A simple logo of a cup of steamy was imprinted in black on the brown sticker wrapped around the cup. “This is the best coffee around here. In fact, in San Francisco.” He held a coffee in his left hand and adjusted the glasses perching on his nose with his right hand.I held the coffee cup up. “Bee’s coffee.” My eyes darted between the cup in my hands and Terry, wondering how he knew my favourite coffee was Mocha. I barely drank coffee around here as I went to the restaurant Luca had taken me to for m
Alex ..“Is that an invitation?” My voice roughened with all the desires weighing on it.And when her full lips separated, I claimed her lips passionately; my tongue meandered into her mouth, feeding the hunger in me. Her eyes bulged, and her breath shuddered. Her hands flew to my forearm, and she attempted to push back, but that only made me pull her closer, her cleavages pressed against my body. Her warmth seeped into me, melding with heat burning in my veins. Her fingers dug deeper into the skin of my arms. My hand slinked up to her neck and pulled her head closer, deepening the kiss. Our tongues twirled, and I could taste her, taste every story on her tongue—the mocha coffee, the insatiable heat, the innate needs—I could taste it all.Under the flutters, there came an itch. An itch to have her here and now. On the desk or on the chair, whichever. My eyes tightened as I immersed myself in the pleasure. I let it control me—to tease me, to burn me, to free me. Without breaking